As a national leader in Catholic family ministry and faith formation, Mary Jo Pedersen has encouraged preventive care for marriage through workshops, publications, and retreats. She recently retired from 25 years on the staff of the Family Life Office of the Archdiocese of Omaha. Pedersen embraces it. "Marriage is life's most important work, ultimately,” Pedersen says.

Mary Sue Williams and Cathy Miettunen lived just a few blocks apart in a tree-lined, middle-class neighborhood in St. Paul, Minnesota when both went through the Catholic Church's annulment process following their civil divorces. Williams and Miettunen belonged to the same parish, Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Maplewood, Minnesota, and both still do.

For most Catholics marriage is their path to holiness, says this expert. The church could-and should-do more to help them on their way.

Are cohabiting Catholics always "living in sin"? Two respected family ministry researchers argue "no" and suggest the recovery of an ancient ritual for those moving toward marriage.  

In July of 1999, a group of marriage-imrpovement gurus made a pilgrimage to the University of Notre Dame to celebrate 50 years of the Christian Family Movement. Publisher Sheed & Ward helped mark the occasion by printing a history of this modern movement heard round the world, a revolution of a different sort that got its start on American soil.

As they gether around the dinner table each evening, the Yala family of Oak Park, Illinois gives thanks to God in both English and Arabic. Dana bows her head and intertwines the fingers of both hands, just as she was taught as a young Catholic. Her husband, Mohamed, keeps his hands open with palms up, as he learned as a Muslim growing up in Algeria. Their daughter follows Dana's example, while their son switches from one form of sitting in prayer to the other.